Ecommerce in France is not slowing down. In the last decade, online sales revenues in the country more than tripled. It is expected to continue growing in the coming years. The local market also has a big share in the total European ecommerce market.
|
COUNTRY |
FRANCE |
|---|---|
| Population | 66.6 million people |
| – % internet users | 85.3% |
| Online sales | 159.9 billion euros (2023) |
| Online stores worth mentioning: | Veepee, Cdiscount, Auchan |
Content:
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With such an established online retail market, it is to be expected that consumers in France are also active online shoppers. In 2024, 45 percent of French consumers said that they shop online more than once a month. And 20 percent shop online more than once a week, while another 4 percent even orders goods online more than once a day.
A large group of consumers (35 percent) estimate that they spend 12 to 120 euros online per month. This is in line with other European countries, like Finland, where also 35 percent of consumers spend the same amount of money. Most consumers say they buy online to save time (47 percent), or because of home delivery (42 percent).
PREFERRED PAYMENT METHODS – According to research in 2024, the most preferred payment method by French consumers during online shopping is a credit or debit card, with 85 percent. It is followed by third-party checkout services (with 58 percent), like PayLib. This one is backed by a local card scheme, Carte Bancaires.
Most French consumers use a debit card or credit card when ordering online
Additionally, 47 percent of consumers in the country said that the availability of their preferred payment option is very important to them. However, product availability (65 percent) and reliability (63 percent) are seen as more important when choosing an online store.
According to Ecommerce Europe, the ecommerce sector in France (sales of products and services combined) generated a total revenue of 159.9 billion euros in 2023. And according to Statista, the ecommerce share of all retail sales in France is 10 percent.
The total revenue in 2023 was an increase of 10.5 percent compared to a year earlier (144.7 billion euros). This was caused by an increase in the amount of transactions (4.9 percent increase), as well as an increase in average basket value (a 5.4 percent increase).
Online product sales dropped in 2023, while the online sales of services increased
However, it should be noted that this increase mostly came from the online sales of services. Product sales dropped in 2023, with a decrease of 1.8 percent. The amount of transactions decreased by 3 percent, despite an increase in average basket value (1 percent increase, to an average of 59 euros). Sales from products amounted to 61.2 billion euros.
At the same time, the online sales of services increased 20 percent. The amount of transactions increased 12 percent, as well as the average basket value (increase of 7 percent). The average basket value for services came to 75 euros.
RECOMMERCE – Just as in the rest of Europe, the second-hand online market is growing in France. In 2024, 44 percent of consumers said that they had bought second-hand clothing. In other product categories, buying second-hand is not as prevalent yet. For example, books came in second place with 26 percent, followed by footwear with 22 percent.
Expectations are that there are more than 120,000 active ecommerce sites in France. The most visited online store in this country is Amazon, with more than 15 million unique visitors per month.
In 2023, Amazon was also the biggest online seller in the country. It was followed by Shein, Veepee, Auchan, Boulanger, Couses U, Apple, E.Leclerc, Leroy Merlin and Cdiscount. International sellers like Amazon and Shein are dominating the market. It is expected that newcomer Temu will also take up a big share of the market.
Many of the top 10 online sellers in France are omnichannel sellers, like hypermarkets or supermarkets
Most of the sellers in the top 10 are omnichannel sellers, like hypermarket E.Leclerc or Leroy Merlin (a hardware store). According to research in 2024, the top 100 biggest online stores have prioritized personalization customer service. At least 65 percent prominently offer a newsletter sign-up facility, 59 percent enable customers to make lists and 52 percent let consumers save a shopping cart.
Every year there are several ecommerce events being organized in France. We have a handy ecommerce events calendar, where you can find all the major online retail events in Europe.
Read all our articles about ecommerce in France.
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